


EMT's Get Free Coffee

by peggy_hamilton



Category: Generation Kill
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Fluff, Generation Kill Week, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-04
Updated: 2017-09-04
Packaged: 2018-12-24 01:23:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12001998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peggy_hamilton/pseuds/peggy_hamilton
Summary: Ray insists that EMT's get free coffee, or perhaps it's just the cute ones like Nate Fick.





	EMT's Get Free Coffee

Nate yawned as he pushed open the door to the coffee shop and breathed in the thick smell of freshly brewed coffee and baked goods which sat on the counter. “Two large cappuccinos, please,” he asked, yawning once more. He was only half way through this shift and he was ready to die, the promise of the next 48 hours off was the only thing keeping him on his feet.

 

“Sleep in late?” the barista asked as he poured the coffees into two to go cups. “You do know it’s the middle of the afternoon, homes.”

 

Nate looked at the guy properly, taking in his skinny frame and dark hair and eyes. “Half way through a shift,” he corrected, stepping into a better view of the man to show him the patch on his jacket, “I'm an EMT.”

 

The man let out a low whistle, “I don’t envy you, man.” He slid the coffee’s across the counter towards Nate, “It’s on the house.”

 

“Are you sure?” Nate asked hesitantly, “I don’t mind paying.”

 

He shrugged, “Sure thing, no big.”

 

Nate squinted at him then nodded slowly, “Fine, just this one.”

 

He smiled wide, “Whatever you say.”

 

“Well, bye,” Nate said awkwardly, slightly disarmed by the man's charming smile. He walked the short distance to the door, still keeping half his attention on the barista who was leaning on the counter watching him with an amused expression.

 

“My name’s Ray,” the man called.

 

“See you around, Ray,” Nate nodded to him, pushing open the door with his back and sliding out. He flinched back from the bright afternoon sun and slid into the front of the ambulance and handed Wynn his coffee.

 

Wynn took it gratefully and took a sip, looking at Nate and pausing suspiciously, “What’s got you so flustered?”

 

“What?” Nate squawked, nearly choking on his drink, “I’m not flustered,” he protested, catching sight of his reflection in the side mirror. Sure enough his cheeks were a rosy pink and getting hotter by the second the more he thought about it.

 

Wynn snorted, “Sure, you’re not.”

 

Nate licked his lips and took deep breaths to try and cool his cheeks, “Ray gave me - us - me - he said the coffee was on the house.”

 

Wynn snickered, “Who’s Ray?” he asked insinuatingly.

 

Nate’s eyes went wide, “No one. The barista. Like I said, no one.” He cursed himself for acting like this, he felt like a hormone ridden teenager all over again just because some guy he didn't know had given him free drinks. A cute guy. _No, just a regular guy,_ he scolded himself.

 

“Uh-huh. And did you get Ray’s number?”

 

“No,” his eyes flicked over to the coffee shop that was still only a short walk away from the ambulance parked on the side of the street. For some reason it felt like a missed opportunity, then the rational part of his mind told him that this Ray guy probably wasn’t even interested in him and only gave him the free drinks because he was an EMT. “Doesn’t matter anyway,” he said, partly to convince himself.

 

Wynn’s reply was cut off by a call telling them to get to a car pile up on the freeway. Nate flicked on the sirens as Wynn sped off down the road towards the accident, thoughts of Ray and the coffee shop quickly slipped from his mind as he prepped for the accident.

 

* * *

  
  


It was a week later when Nate stepped back into the small coffee shop, he had forgotten all about his last encounter with Ray until he looked up and saw him behind the counter once again. “Hey, Mr EMT guy,” Ray greeted with a lazy grin as Nate walked up to the front counter, “That’s what I’ve been calling you this past week, you kind of skipped out on me before I could get your name last time.”

 

Nate’s brain short circuited for a moment, had he been really so rude that he hadn't even given his name when Ray had given him free coffee. “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t even realise. I’m Nate.”

 

“Nate,” Ray tried the name out, “I like it, it suits you.”

 

“Thanks,” Nate blushed once more, “Two cappuccinos please.”

 

“I’m starting to think that’ll be your usual,” Ray commented as he began making the drinks.

 

“Yeah, me and my partner need a lot of- wait did you say you’ve been talking about me?” his brain finally caught up with the first thing Ray had said.

 

Ray shrugs casually, “Here and there. Does that freak you out?” he smirked, catching Nate’s gaze over the top of the coffee machine with a glint in his eye that suggested even if it did it wouldn’t matter.

 

“No,” Nate answered truthfully, willing the butterflies in his stomach to subside for one goddamn minute. “Not that I’m not flattered, I think,” because he was very flattered, and his head was running wild with all the possibilities of what this meant, “But what were you telling people?”

 

“Just letting the other baristas know that if a cute guy came in the shop to let me know,” Ray said simply, pouring the coffee into two cups.

 

“Oh,” Nate felt like his face was on fire. (It was.)

 

Ray saw Nate’s blush and his smile widened, “Of course I didn’t know your name, just that your were an EMT, hence the name. Here’s your coffee.”

 

“How much is it? I’m actually paying for it this time,” Nate insisted, purposefully getting out his wallet.

 

Ray shook his head, “Nope.”

 

“I insist.”

 

“No can do, homes.”

 

Nate huffed, “It’s not fair of me to get free coffee every time I come in here.”

 

“Free coffee for EMT’s I don’t make the rules,” Ray shook his head.

 

“Fine,” Nate gave up, “But you can’t stop me from leaving a tip.” He put a large amount of change into the small mason jar that sat on the counter.

 

Ray snorted, “Whatever you say, Nate.”

 

Nate took the coffee. “Thank you.”

 

Ray only winked which caused Nate to blush once more as he left the shop, preparing himself for the amount of teasing he would surely get off Wynn now.

 

* * *

  


“Did he give you the coffee free again?”

 

“It’s free for EMT’s!” Nate insisted.

 

“Sure.”

  


* * *

  
  


Nate yawned heavily, his head beginning to droop. He didn’t need to look in one of the mirrors to see his large bags and bloodshot eyes, “Do you want me to go in and get the coffee?” Wynn offered.

 

While seeing Ray had become a highlight of his shifts, and he even occasionally popped into the coffee shop on his days off, right now he didn’t want Ray to see how much of a tired mess he was. He had pulled a double shift and had only gotten four hours sleep last night between two 24 hour shifts, “Yes,” he said around a yawn.

 

He watched Wynn disappear into the coffee shop, longing to go in after him just have the briefest talk with Ray but he could barely keep his eyes open. Nothing had gone past flirting and free coffee, he didn't even have Ray’s number - which is why he hated to waste an opportunity like this - but he had finally stopped blushing like a school kid whenever he spoke to Ray.

 

His insides still did flips when Ray smiled at him though.

  


 

 

Wynn walked into the coffee shop he had only ever seen from outside. He strolled up to the counter, behind which stood an almost lanky dark haired guy with the name tag ‘Ray’. He suppressed as mile when he realised this was the guy Nate had been pining over for the past two months.

 

Ray stood up straighter when he approached, his eyes flicking to his EMT jacket and then his face which was definitely not Nate’s and Wynn swore he saw his shoulders deflate just a little. “What can I get you?” he flashed a polite smile.

 

“What’s the strongest you got?”

 

“Espresso,” Ray said in a ‘duh’ tone of voice.

 

“I’ll have a cappuccino and an americano, please.”

 

They stood in silence as Ray made the drinks and passed them over, “That’ll be $11.56, please.”

 

Wynn handed over enough cash, pleased with the knowledge that Ray was in fact giving Nate free coffee because he liked him and not because he was an EMT. He was going to hold this information over him as soon as he was awake enough to register it. As much as he loved teasing Nate, he wanted to see his closest friend happy, and he knew that as soon as he stopped pining over Ray and actually went out with him that would happen.

 

When he reached the ambulance he nudged Nate awake and shoved the americano at him, “Drink this,” he ordered.

 

Nate took the coffee and downed it in one, wrinkling his nose at the strong taste but it woke him up a little bit. “Was Ray there?” he asked sleepily.

 

“Yeah,” Wynn smirked.

 

Nate looked over at the shop front, deciding that he would go get coffee tomorrow after he had slept for several hours.

 

* * *

  
  
  


When Nate walked through the door of the coffee shop the first thing he did was knock into Ray, who was walking out of it.

 

“Nate!” Ray sounded pleasantly surprised, “I didn’t think I’d see you today. I just finished my shift but I can still make you a coffee if you want,” he offered, already walking back to the counter.

 

“Actually, I’m not here for coffee,” Nate stopped him, the words falling out of his mouth before he could stop them, “I’m here for you.”

 

Ray blinked rapidly, silent for the first time since Nate had met him. “Then why..?” he trailed off.

 

“I’m here for you,” Nate said. Maybe it was the fact that he hadn’t seen Ray in nearly a week which had caused it to be the worst week he had had in awhile, or maybe it was the leftover sleep deprivation that had brought on this newfound confidence, but Nate wasn’t going to stop it.

 

“Really?” For all his usual over cockiness, Ray had a tone of genuine surprise in his voice.

 

Nate nodded, “I don’t like coffee that much,” he confessed, “I really only drink it to keep me awake on shifts and I come here on my days off.”

 

The shy smile on Ray’s face quickly transformed into a bright and radiant one, “I see all that free coffee paid off then.”

 

Nate laughed, “Well, like I said, I didn’t only come for the free coffee.” He decided to be bold and reached out to take Ray’s hand in his own, his warm fingers brushed against his own sending sparks and tingled down his arms and spreading throughout his body.

 

Ray stepped closer, intertwining their fingers fully as they grinned stupidly at each other. “Are you free now, because I am. Which means we can go on our first official date now.”

 

Nate’s heart was beating so hard it threatened to leap out of his chest, “Yeah,” he agreed, “That would be-” his sentence was cut off by a large yawn, “That would be nice.”

 

Ray smiled fondly, “Or would you rather have a nap?” he suggested, “I’m free for a date whenever.”

 

“I’d rather spend time with you.”

 

“Let’s do both,” Ray suggested, “My place is only down the street if you want.”

 

Nate nodded slowly, yawning once more, “That might be a good idea, actually.”

  


* * *

 

 

Ray’s bedroom was the only tidy room in his apartment, and even then the bed wasn't made and clothes were shoved to the corners of the floor. The windows didn't have any curtains and streamed in the sunlight throughout the whole room but in that moment it was the most inviting place Nate had ever seen in his life.

 

They both removed their shoes, jeans and jackets before lying down on the bed and Nate sunk into the soft mattress and closed his eyes in bliss. When he opened them he was looking deep into Ray’s dark brown eyes, he reached his hand up to trace his fingertips over Rays cheekbones, taking a moment to relish in this quiet comfortable moment.

 

Ray caught Nate’s hand in his own, loosely tangling their fingers together and pressing a light kiss to Nate’s hand then flicking his eyes back up to meet Nate’s making his heart flutter. “Ray,” he whispered, unwilling and unable to speak any louder and shatter the calm mood.

 

“Nate,” Ray answered, just as softly.

 

“Can I kiss you?” Nate asked.

 

Ray beamed at him and nodded, Nate wasted no more time before leaning over the short distance and capturing Ray’s lips with his own. Nate cupped Ray’s jaw as they kissed softly, moving in time with each other and fitting against each other perfectly, everything else in the world melted away and Nate wanted to live in this moment for the rest of his life.

 

When they broke apart they were each panting softly, Nate yawned once more and Ray chuckled and kissed his nose. “Go to sleep, Nate.”

 

“Okay,” Nate smiled sleepily and nuzzled into the crook of Ray’s neck, quickly falling asleep to the soothing sounds of Ray breathing and wrapped up tightly in his arms.

  
  



End file.
